Hustle Belt - Akron Soccer Replaces Caleb Porter With Jared EmbickMAC Football, MAC Basketball, MAC Recruiting, MAC Baseball and all of the other #MACtion hijinks in between - hustlebeltblog@gmail.comhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/50387/hustle-fav.png2012-10-17T14:11:26-04:00http://www.hustlebelt.com/rss/stream/32814072012-10-17T14:11:26-04:002012-10-17T14:11:26-04:00Embick named next Akron head coach
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<p>It's the tried and true method of keeping a program alive: put the second of command in charge. Akron announced that associate head coach <a href="http://www.gozips.com/sports/msoc/2012-13/releases/20121017s5f4vc" target="_blank">Jared Embick will replace Caleb Porter</a> at the end of the 2012 soccer season.</p>
<p>Embick joined the Zips staff in 2007, the year after Porter got there, and helped them every bit of the way.</p>
<p>This really is the best way to keep a successful program running. Embick is a top assistant that I'm certain many players and recruits are comfortable calling their coach.</p>
https://www.hustlebelt.com/2012/10/17/3517382/jared-embick-akron-soccer-coachMatt Sussman2012-08-29T00:16:41-04:002012-08-29T00:16:41-04:00Report: Caleb Porter Takes Portland Timbers Job
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<p>Well, that's it. Akron's super soccer coach Caleb Porter is bolting from the MAC to the MLS. I don't think we can often say a MAC coach goes straight to the head coach of a major professional sports team but he's that pedigree.</p>
<p>KPAM860 is saying that <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/2012/8/28/3275847/caleb-porter-reportedly-named-timbers-coach" target="_blank">the press conference is scheduled for 10:45 AM PDT</a> to announce him as the coach. The season is over for the Timbers, so it will likely be learned that, yes, Porter is the head coach, and also what his plans are with the Akron team this year. My guess — and others have speculated this — that <a href="https://twitter.com/travismclark/status/240637912104984577" target="_blank">Porter will coach Akron through the end of the season</a>, then join the Timbers in time for the SuperDraft. Hey, he might even draft one of his own.</p>
<p>If that's how it's going to be, then at least he has a plan and doesn't leave the program in shambles. UA has sunk so much money and effort into building a top college soccer program and they've done that. One man does not, can not, and should not make an elite program. Akron athletic director Tom Wistrcill gets three months to devise the right plan for this program. If UA suddenly falls into obscurity after Porter, then it was not meant to be.</p>
<p>Akron plays four games in two weeks on the road. Their next home game is September 14, a tournament they are hosting, against St. John's. With presumably between seven and nine games left in the Caleb Porter Era, I have to imagine that attendance records are going to be shattered even beyond what they were in previous years. Farewell tours sometimes feel drawn out but this one might be pretty special.</p>
https://www.hustlebelt.com/2012/8/28/3276040/report-caleb-porter-takes-portland-timbers-jobMatt Sussman2012-08-27T00:19:29-04:002012-08-27T00:19:29-04:00Report: Caleb Porter Offered Portland Timbers Job
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<p>A potential blow to MAC soccer, if this report is true: OregonLive is reporting that Caleb Porter <a target="_blank" href="http://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/index.ssf/2012/08/caleb_porter_next_head_coach_o.html">has been offered the coaching job for the MLS's Portland Timbers</a>. Porter's Zips are currently ranked No. 10.</p>
<p>The obvious connection here is that the Timbers have Darlington Nagbe, the Hermann Trophy winner (top NCAA soccer player) in 2010 then was drafted second overall, but he gained more exposure by coaching the Under-23 national team this past year, even if the results weren't flattering.</p>
<p>If he departs, you can't blame the UA athletic department for not doing everything possible to keep him. His extension in 2010 put his employment with Akron <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/index.ssf/2010/12/qa_with_akron_mens_soccer_coac.html">through the 2020 season worth about $350,000 annually</a>. And they're already paying like four head football coaches salaries.</p>
<p>For Akron's sake I hope he stays. He coached the U-23 national team in the hopes of reaching the 2012 Olympics but they didn't qualify for it. However Porter is beyond a "rising star" in the coaching ranks. He won an NCAA championship with Akron in 2010, so that counts as having made it already. The only other place to go up in this country is MLS.</p>
<p>Not to put an "if" atop another "if" but a question would be that, if Porter left for Portland, would he coach Akron this season, or depart immediately? Akron's season would end in December at the latest and the 2013 MLS season would start in March. Either way it's a huge distraction but given the way the MLS and NCAA seasons are aligned, there's no great time to leave that would please both clubs. Guess we'll have to wait and see how this very fluid story pans out.</p>
<p><i>Sidenote: I swore I saw briefly that OregonLive's story said that he had already accepted the job, but maybe the Internet is playing tricks with my head. Or maybe they corrected it.</i></p>
https://www.hustlebelt.com/2012/8/26/3270854/caleb-porter-akron-zips-portland-timbers-rumorsMatt Sussman